In response to a USA Today series on widespread sexual abuse in Florida’s foster care system, Florida state Senator Lauren Book convened a hearing on January 12, raising the critical question why out of 92 reports of children being sexually abused by state-licensed foster parents, only 6 allegations were verified,... View Article
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Child-Abuse Reports Are Falling, and That’s Bad News for Children
Pediatricians say they are seeing alarming injuries and deaths as the coronavirus pandemic cripples the nation’s early-warning system for child abuse. Read More Here
Opinion Piece: In Florida and Nationally, Privatized Foster Care is a Failed Experiment
The following is an opinion piece from Howard Talenfeld, President of Florida’s Children First and the founder of Talenfeld Law. When Senators Orrin Hatch and Ron Wyden, the Chairman and Ranking Member respectively of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, released findings from a two-year investigation into foster care privatization, it did... View Article
Child Advocate Lawyer Howard Talenfeld Selected for Inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America
Howard M. Talenfeld, a preeminent children’s rights attorney, was recently selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers™ in America 2018 in the field of Civil Rights Law. Talenfeld is the Founder and Managing Partner of Talenfeld Law, the first law firm in Florida to focus exclusively on protecting... View Article
Three Foster Child Suicides, One Message: Child Welfare Privatization is a Failure
When the Florida Department of Children and Families responded to a records request by the media regarding the suicide of Lauryn Martin-Everett with the line, “We remain deeply saddened by the tragic loss of this child,” some could argue the admission itself was a reflection of the state’s failed experiment with privatization... View Article
Children’s rights attorney Howard Talenfeld, who exclusively represents children abused, disabled and injured in foster care and other child welfare settings in personal injury and damages cases, recently had a letter published by the Florida Bar. In his letter, Talenfeld, who also is the founder and president of Florida’s Children... View Article
3 Accused of Beating Mentally Impaired Man at State Hospital in Pembroke Pines
As a children’s rights law firm representing Florida foster children and others at risk of child abuse, child sex abuse, and other harm, Talenfeld Law is aware of the perils society’s youngest and most vulnerable citizens face. But developmentally disabled adults are not immune from physical harm. In Pembroke Pines,... View Article
Florida Claims Bills Seek to Help Abused Children Who Wait Years for Damage Awards
Children across Florida who have suffered rape, child sexual abuse, child abuse, and other personal injury often wait years to receive damages awarded by the court or juries – if they ever receive the money at all. Claims bills now before the Florida Legislature could make money available to help... View Article
Florida Foster Child Abuse Attorney: Bill Would Limit Bad Group Homes, Improve Placement Options
The following commentary was written by Fort Lauderdale foster child abuse attorney Howard Talenfeld and published in the Daily Business Review on November 18, 2015. For more than 15 years since the privatization of child welfare in Florida, the Florida Department of Children and Families has contracted with lead agencies like ChildNet... View Article
Child Abuse Attorney: Medicating Foster Kids Without Consent is Wrong
The 2009 death of 7-year-old Gabriel Myers, an abused foster child found hanging from a shower fixture in his foster home in Margate, Florida, shone a bright light on the state’s policy of allowing doctors to prescribe psychotropic drugs on foster kids. It was a horrible tragedy – one that... View Article